Man gets 15 years in prison for child porn EL DORADO (AP) — Federal authorities say a 45-year-old El Dorado man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for receiving images of child pornography. Authorities said Wednesday that Shannon Ross Griffin's prison term will be followed by supervised release for life. Court records say investigators executed a search warrant for child pornography at Griffin's home last year. Authorities confiscated two computers and other digital storage devic...

US Mint unveils Marshals Museum coin designs FORT SMITH (AP) — The U.S. Mint has unveiled the designs of the three commemorative coins that will be sold next year to raise money for a planned $50 million U.S. Marshals Museum in western Arkansas. The coins, which honor the contributions of the U.S. Marshals Service, were unveiled Wednesday at the Justice Department in Washington. The U.S. Mint will begin selling the coins in January, ahead of the planned 2017 opening of the new museum. Or...

Lonoke County man sentenced in child porn case LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A Lonoke County man arrested last year has been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child porn charges. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announced Tuesday that Ryan David Oyen, 30, of Cabot, pleaded guilty Monday to 20 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child. Lonoke County Circuit Court Judge Sandy Huckabee handed down the 60-year sentence, with an additional ...

2 men charged in western Arkansas shooting death RUDY (AP) — Two men face capital murder charges in the shooting death of a 19-year-old in western Arkansas. Jonathan Bridgewater, 27, and Nicholas Barrows, 19, half-brothers from Rudy, are accused of fatally shooting Jamison Lee Plum, 19, the Southwest Times Record reported. Barrows also faces a charge of criminal use of a prohibited weapon, after police said they found pipe bombs during a search of his home. Plum's body was discovered last mo...

Man charged in fatal shooting to appear in court SEARCY (AP) — A Bald Knob man accused of assaulting his wife and fatally shooting his father-in-law is expected to appear in court this week. The Daily Citizen reported Robert Draft, 50, is charged with first-degree murder and felony battery. He's expected to tell the court Wednesday whether he has hired an attorney or will need a court-appointed lawyer. Police responded to Draft's home after receiving a domestic disturbance report in May. Inv...

Panel approves leasing space for state prisoners LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A state panel finalized a deal Monday to move up to 250 inmates into an unused Pulaski County facility as part of a plan lawmakers approved earlier this month to ease overcrowding at local jails across Arkansas. The state Board of Corrections approved the agreement with Pulaski County to lease the 250-bed facility in Little Rock for $1 over the next year to house some of the inmates that have been backing up in county jails....

Bond Hearings (July 21, 2014)The following individuals appeared during felony bond hearings Monday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear Sept. 8 in Circuit Court. • James Cowell, 44, possession of a controlled substance — $5,000. Employees at a local restaurant told the Dover Police Department (DPD) on Friday that Cowell was passed out in his vehicle. Officers found Cowell in p...

Bulls Shoals police chief not guilty on 2 counts HARRISON (AP) — The police chief of Bull Shoals was found not guilty Friday night on two counts related to a 2013 arrest. A mistrial was declared on the third count of use of excessive force in the case of Daniel Sutterfield, according to The Baxter Bulletin. The jury acquitted Sutterfield on charges of conspiracy and falsifying a police report. The charges were related to the July 2013 arrest of Nicholas Dore on suspicion of domestic abuse. P...

Copper theft suspect arrestedThe Russellville Police Department (RPD) made an arrest this week in connection with the recent rash of air-conditioning coil thefts. "Late last month, we had approximately 14-16 air conditioning coil thefts in the city of Russellville," an RPD officer testified during felony bond hearings Friday. "Using multiple intelligence sources, I was able to identify [David] Kelley as a possible suspect, in that he had made multiple sales to local scrap...

Police: Trash dumped at historic cemetery JONESBORO (AP) — Arkansas police are looking for whoever used a historic black cemetery as a garbage dump. The Jonesboro Sun reported someone left trash at the Knights of Pythias Cemetery. Discarded items include two mattresses, a sound system speaker box and new clothes. Jonesboro Parks Director Wixson Huffstetler contacted police when he discovered the trash early Wednesday morning. He says the cleanup was ongoing Thursday. Huffstetler says ...

Bond hearingsThe following individuals appeared during felony bond hearings Friday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear Sept. 8 in Circuit Court. • Travis Montgomery, 27, possession of drug paraphernalia and felon in possession of a firearm — $10,000. Around 5 p.m. Wednesday, officers with the Pope County Sheriff's Office (PCSO), who were in the area on an unre...

Police chief on trial for excessive force HARRISON (AP) — A trial started this week for the chief of the Bull Shoals Police Department, who is accused of using excessive force against a suspect. Police Chief Daniel Sutterfield is charged with depriving Nicholas Dore of his rights and attempting to cover up the incident by ordering fellow Bull Shoals officer David Chatman to write a false report. Prosecutors said Sutterfield, 35, kicked and beat Dore with a shotgun and threw him into a...

Lawyers seek life for convicted killer TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Lawyers for a man sentenced to die for killing a farmer in southwest Arkansas more than 20 years ago are asking that he get life in prison instead because he has a mental disability. The Texarkana Gazette reported Frank Williams Jr.'s case is back in trial court after the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered a new penalty hearing, citing problems with his original sentencing. Williams, 47, was found guilty of capital murder in...

Vandalized runway partially repaired COLLEGE CITY (AP) — A Walnut Ridge Airport runway has reopened after $60,000 in damages closed it for two months. Airport Manager Michelle Anthony told The Jonesboro Sun work to repair the May 10 vandalism is ongoing. She says the lighting system is working. Airport surveillance video shows two ATVs entering the property at night and circling the runway for about an hour. They destroyed at least nine lights and two signs. A lightning strike ha...

Search continues for missing inmate PINE BLUFF (AP) — Corrections officials say the search continues for a convicted killer who escaped an Arkansas prison more than three weeks ago. Department of Correction spokeswoman Shea Wilson says the agency continues to follow up on tips and reported sightings of inmate Timothy Buffington, who escaped the Pine Bluff Unit on June 21. But Wilson said Monday that there's been no confirmed sighting of Buffington apart from surveillance video t...

Authorities release names of 2 shot near Vilonia VILONIA (AP) — The Faulkner County Sheriff's Office says it is investigating a double shooting outside Vilonia as a murder-suicide. Authorities on Monday identified the dead as Stephanie Hermes, 32, and Kevin Battle , 50. The shooting was reported at about 10 a.m. Monday at a residence on Arkansas 236. Police said Battle was found dead and Hermes was airlifted to a local hospital, where she later died. Investigators say the two were in a previ...

Pope County constable arrestedKenneth Loveless, the Crow Mountain East constable in Pope County, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of felony mischief. Around 9:23 p.m. Saturday, a teenage female was attempting to leave a parking spot at Wal-Mart in Russellville in Loveless' vehicle with him and another teenage girl inside when she hit a cart corral, dragging it behind the vehicle, according to a police report. Loveless, 43, who was wearing a black T-shirt with the word "Pol...

$10,000 bond for hit-and-run suspectAn Arizona man is being held at the Pope County Detention Center in lieu of a $10,000 bond in connection with a hit-and-run accident over the weekend. Joshua Lippincott, 23, of Tucson is charged with leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury and driving while intoxicated. Around 6 p.m. Sunday, the Russellville Police Department (RPD) responded to a call of a vehicle striking a pedestrian who was jogging near the 600 block of East O...